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Fred Kabotie was born into a highly traditional Hopi family at Songo`opavi, Second Mesa, Arizona, Kabotie. His father belonged to the sun clan and he belonged to the Bluebird Clan. His Hopi name was Naqavo'ma, meaning "the sun coming up day after day"; however, his paternal grandfather gave him the nickname Qaavotay, meaning "tomorrow."[1] His teacher at Toreva Day School spelled his nickname "Kabotie," which stuck with him for the rest of his life.[2]

As a child, he drew images of katsinas with bits of coal and earth pigments onto rock surfaces near his home.[1]

After his spotty attendance at the local day school, Kabotie was forced to attend the Santa Fe Indian School, where he says, "I was supposed to discard all my Hopi belief, all my Hopi way of life, and become a white man and become a Christian." English was the only language students were allowed to speak. John DeHuff became superintendent of the school and went against the prevailing government policy of suppressing Native cultures. Elizabeth DeHuff, John's wife, taught painting to students from the school, beginning with Kabotie. Missing his home, Kabotie painted katsinas and sold his first painting for 50 cents to the school's carpentry teacher.[2]

After graduation in the 1920s, the Museum of New Mexico hired Kabotie to paint and bind books for a salary of $60 per month. Elizabeth DeHuff hired him to illustrate books. The George Gustav Heye Center in New York City commissioned a series of paintings depicting Hopi ceremonies, and he sold works to private collectors. He primarily painted with watercolor on paper.[3]

In 1930, Kabotie moved back to Shungopavi, where he lived for most of his life. He was initiated into the Wuwtsimt men's society and married Alice Talayaonema.[3]

The Museum of Northern Arizona encouraged Kabotie and his cousin Paul Saufkie (1898–1993) to develop a jewelry style unique to Hopi people.[6] They developed an overlay technique, distinct from Zuni and Navajosilversmithing. They created designs inspired by traditional Hopi pottery.[3] A friend and benefactor, Leslie Van Ness Denman, commissioned Kabotie's first piece of jewelry as a gift to Eleanor Roosevelt.[7]

Starting in 1947 the Indian Service and GI Bill funded jewelry classes at the Hopi High School at Oraibi for returning Hopi veterans of World War II. Kabotie taught design and Saufkie taught technique. There were two separate classes taught by Kabotie and Saufkie and each lasted about eighteen months. To showcase their students' work, they created the Hopi Silvercraft Cooperative Guild in 1949. In 1963, the Hopi Guild moved from Oraibi to a newly constructed building on Second Mesa that included a large showroom and workshop space for the artists. Fred Kabotie worked with the Guild in various ways, serving as president from 1960 until his retirement in 1971.[8] The shop on Second Mesa is rarely used by students today.[6][9]

He had long assisted other tribal members in marketing their artwork and a lifelong dream was realized with the founding of the Hopi Cultural Center. Kabotie was elected as president of the board in 1965, and in 1971 the Center was officially dedicated.[9]

Kabotie died on February 28, 1986 after a long illness. "The Hopi believe that when you pass away," he said, "your breath, your soul, becomes into the natural life, into the powers of the deity. Then you will become mingled with all this nature again, such as clouds... That way you will come back to your people..."[10]

He was best known for his painting, and he is estimated to have finished 500 paintings.[9] Fred's son Michael Kabotie (1942–2009) was also a well-known artist.